The invention set forth in this specification pertains to a new and improved method and apparatus for treating bronchial asthma through what may be referred to as a "biofeedback" type technique.
An understanding of the present invention is not considered to require a detailed knowledge of the nature of bronchial asthma or of problems associated with the ailment. However, an understanding of the invention is considered to require knowledge of the fact that a patient suffering from bronchial asthma difficulty in breathing and that this difficulty is evidenced by sounds caused by the passage of air through the bronchial passages. Generally speaking, what may be referred to as the noise level of the breathing process of a person suffering from bronchial asthma is related to the amount various bronchial muscles are "tensed up" so as to tend to constrict the breathing passages. An individual suffering from bronchial asthma will normally tend to tighten the muscles controlling the dimensions of the bronchial passages as a sort of involuntary reaction to the individual's difficulty in breathing.
It has been recognized that such an individual can breathe more easily if these muscles can be relaxed so as to permit a widening or enlargement of the various air passages in the body. There have, of course, been appropriate efforts to facilitate an individual suffering from bronchial asthma breathing through the use of appropriate medicants serving to relax the muscles controlling the dimensions of the bronchial passages. For reasons which are unimportant to an understanding of the invention it is considered preferable to enable an asthmatic patient to breathe in a desired or more or less normal manner without the use of such agents. Several different techniques have been proposed and used to various extents for this purpose.
One of such techniques requires a person suffering from bronchial asthma to go through forced expiratory maneuvers. The amount of gas exhaled during such a maneuver is measured utilizing a flow meter and the information obtained from such a meter is given to the patient as a means of instructing the patient as to the way the patient should breathe. Unfortunately this technique has the disadvantage that it does not accurately correspond to the way a person normally breathes. On occasion this technique is disadvantageous because it will tend to trigger an asthma attack.
Another technique or manner for teaching a person how to control bronchial asthma without the use of a medicant has involved what is referred to as a "body plethysmograph " (or body box). Such a device is utilized in connection with an on-line computer in order to measure airway resistance. This type of device is rather undesirable because of its size and complexity. In addition it is relatively expensive to utilize this type of structure.
As a result of these factors it is considered that there is a need for a new and improved manner of instructing an individual suffering from bronchial asthma as to a desired manner of relaxing the muscles controlling the bronchial passages so as to facilitate effective utilization of the bronchial passages. More specifically it is considered that there is a need for both for such a method and for an apparatus for use in practicing the method which is of such a character that it may be easily and conveniently constructed at a nominal cost and may be used conveniently without constant medical supervision with a minimum of difficulty.